GasBuddy News Article

U.S. Senator Schumer pushes for tighter standards for GPS usage by commercial trucks

GasBuddy Blog
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U.S. Senator Charles Schumer says too many trucks are crashing into bridge overpasses, especially in Western New York.

Schumer appeared in Buffalo last week and brought the media to the CSX Railroad overpass at William and Metcalfe. That bridge, he said, has been struck by trucks 32 times in the past few years. The bridge, built in 1926, has just a 12-foot clearance.

Schumer is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct an investigation. He wants national standards to be issued in the use of GPS units in commercial trucks... and we sincerely hope the U.S. DOT is paying attention.

WBFO's Eileen Buckley reported that many professional trucking companies equip their vehicles with commercial...

Jumpmaster, Edwood, CivicMa: You have to READ the Article slowly and carefully before you can make an educated comment or your comment doesn't make any sense. The POINT here is that there are TWO types of GPS. One is Commercial (this means for "business" or "BIG truck" use and one is non-commercial or personal which means its for the "little cars"). The Commerical GPS WILL direct the BIG trucks away from low clearance underpasses, immpossible intersections, dangerous roadways etc. It will direct trucks on safe passageways which may take longer but won't cause crashes. A non-commercial GPS is designed to take a small car on the most direct route, which will fit under any overpass, through any intersection safely. NON-COMMERCIAL GPS ARE CHEAPER THAN COMMERCIAL GPS. Schumer's argument is that Private companies are buying NON-COMMERCIAL GPS for their BIG TRUCKS which are steering their drivers into dangerous territory in order to save a few bucks on the more expensive commerical GPS. Schumer is right. Those companies are idiots.

Sure those drivers should know the dimension of their vehicle, but COME ON... they are driving some HUGE vehicles in some tight quarters, in areas they've NEVER been before, directed by a GPS purchased BY their company, and a few inches overhead and a hope and prayer and an... oops.. I can't blame them. Their lives are tough enough.

The only was to deal with this is to require GPS Manufacturers and System Operators to put accurate information into the Systems. Requiring a Truck to have a GPS doesn't do any good if the info in the device is incorrect....

Saw this story before. Interesting point not made in this edition, the number of bridge strikes was higher in the years before the GPS was regularly in use. So what is Schumer's point? Ignorance of the facts seems to follow him.

Senator Schumer is 100% correct. Commercial drivers should ONLY use commercial GPS devices. Professional drivers would be remiss if they said they only adhere to common sense when it comes to hours on the road each day. They are not as alert as they could be. Too much reliance on these devices can be and are in many cases deadly.

Sure this is a problem but our national government should not be trying to solve it by mandating a technological fix (that would not prevent all of these types of accidents) rather than putting the blame where it belongs which is on the driver and the drivers insurance company.